PETER DAVISON – THE FIFTH DOCTOR Full Name: Peter Moffett Born: 13 April 1951, Streatham, London First Screen Appearance: Warship (TV series, 1974) First regular Doctor Who appearance: Logopolis Part 4 (1981) Final regular Doctor Who appearance: The Caves of Androzani Part 4 (1984) Final guest Doctor Who appearance: Time Crash (2007) In 1981, at the age of 29, Peter Davison was the youngest actor to be cast as the Doctor – a record he held until the casting of Matt Smith in 2009. Born Peter Moffett and later adopting the stage name Davison, he attended the Central School of Speech and Drama, and on graduating worked as a stage manager at Nottingham Playhouse. His first major television work was on the ITV children’s drama The Tomorrow People – where he met his future wife Sandra Dickinson. A role in the drama Love for Lydia followed, but it was the rebellious Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small that made Davison a household name. He played Tristan on and off for 12 years. the other doctor Full Name: Richard Gibbon Hurndall Born: 3 November 1910, Darlington Died: 13 April 1984, London First Screen Appearance: Androcles and the Lion (TV, 1946) Doctor Who appearance: The Five Doctors (1983) After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) Richard Hurndall started treading the boards first in repertory and later with the Royal Shakespeare Company where his roles included Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice and Orlando in As You Like It. Later he shift ed to radio, becoming a member of the BBC Radio Drama repertory company in 1952, going on to play Sherlock Holmes seven years later in a five-part adaptation of The Sign of Four. Even though Hurndall had made his television debut in 1946, it wasn’t until the 1960s that he regularly started appearing on the small screen. The next two decades saw him guesting on a number of cult TV. shows including Steptoe and Son, Ripping Yarns, The Avengers, Callan, The Persuaders and Jason King. It was a 1981 appearance in Blake’s 7 that gave Hurndall a unique place in the Doctor Who hall of fame. At the time, series producer John Nathan-Turner was planning The Five Doctors, the 90-minute 20th-anniversary special. There was only one snag. William Hartnell had passed away in 1975. Who could play the First Doctor? Watching Hurndall’s performance as Nebrox in Assassin, an episode from Blake’s 7’ s fourth season, the producer saw in him someone who could mimic Hartnell’s idiosyncratic performance. And so Hurndall became the first actor to be cast in a previous Doctor’s role. At 73, he was 18 years older than William Hartnell had been when he originally played the First Doctor. Sadly, Hurndall died of a heart attack just five months after his interpretation of the First Doctor was broadcast. COLIN BAKER THE SIXTH DOCTOR Full Name: Colin Baker Born: 8 June 1943, London First Screen Appearance: The Adventures of Don Quick (TV, 1970) First regular Doctor Who appearance: The Caves of Androzani Part 4 (1984) Final regular Doctor Who appearance: The Trial of a Time Lord Part 14 (1986) Final guest Doctor Who appearance: Dimensions in Time Part 2 (1993) Following training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Colin Baker made his television debut at the beginning of the 1970s, winning early roles in The Adventures of Don Quick, Happy Ever After and a noted supporting appearance in a BBC adaptation of The Road to Freedom. During this period, Baker shared a flat with David Troughton, the son of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, and was best man at his wedding.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 12:36:47 +0000
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